The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for ventilating and purifying air such as grease or smoke laden air associated with cooking stoves in restaurant or other commercial kitchens. More specifically, the present invention relates to a ventilating apparatus and method wherein air containing grease, precious metals, ash, smoke or other combustion gases or vapors and/or heat is forced through a plurality of continuous chemically treated water curtains which remove the contaminants and/or heat from the air, the contaminants being subsequently removed from the system by an internal water washing system supplied independently of the water curtains.
Ventilation of smoke, grease, vapor and/or heat such as that generated by frying foods in a restaurant, commercial kitchen, or industry requires a ventilating apparatus for filtering or otherwise removing the contaminants and excessive heat from the air before exhausting the air into the atmosphere so as to avoid particulate, gaseous, or thermal pollution of the atmosphere. Generally speaking, the ventilation of such air is carried out for several hours of each day, further requiring an apparatus for removing contaminants which is economical to operate.
Wherefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an economical and practical apparatus and method for ventilating a body of air while simultaneously removing grease, smoke, vapors or other contaminants or heat therefrom. Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for efficiently cleansing air to remove pollutants therefrom by employing water curtains of recycled water. Yet another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus with internal baffles which sequentially direct inlet air through a plurality of transverse, solid, i.e. continuous water curtains. Still another object of this invention is to provide an air cleaning apparatus wherein a particular portion of water is used to sequentially provide first an upper water curtain and then a lower water curtain, and wherein the inlet air is sequentially passed first through the lower water curtain and then through the upper water curtain, whereby the initial cleansing of inlet air is carried out by a water portion which has just previously carried out the final cleansing of inlet air so as to maximize the cleaning effect of the pair of water curtains. A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus having effective and efficient means for removing pollutants or other precipitated particulate matter from the interior of the apparatus. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the disclosure herein and the following claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.